Rural school goes from nought to 95%

IT is usually supercars that are judged on how quickly they can get from 0 to 100, but a small school in rural KwaZulu-Natal achieved almost the same results — in the matric exams.

Inkumane High School near Richmond had a 0% matric pass rate in 2013, one of just six schools across the country that failed to pass a single one of its Grade 12s. But in just a year — thanks largely to an overhauled staff complement — it staged a remarkable turnaround. The school went from 0 to 95.5%.

It is not hard to understand the permanent smile on principal Raymond Chonco’s face — he arrived at the school at the beginning of last year.

“The first thing I did was to change the timetable so that we started at 7am instead of 7.45am. We also had afternoon classes for all subjects, and these sometimes went on until 8 in the evening. All of us, including the learners, live in the area, so we could go until late,” said Chonco.

He also gave all pupils a copy of the school rules, which they never had before.

“Myself and my educators expect 100%, and that’s why we put the effort in,” he said.

Chonco credits the new culture of discipline that he inculcated and the new teachers for their good results.

Twenty-one of the school’s 22 matrics passed, and Chonco is adamant that the one who failed would pass the supplementary exams next month.

What makes the improvement even more remarkable is that this is Chonco’s first job as a principal. Before this, he taught English and Zulu at a neighbouring school.

“I was nervous when I started, but I knew I had to be brave to do it. We just had to improve our marks — and I’m proud that we were able to make big changes so quickly,” he said.

One matriculant, Wandile Mkhize said the attitude of the new staff was completely different from anything he had experienced previously.

“The teachers used to come late, so the pupils would also come late. Sometimes we would just stay outside the classrooms. The teachers also wouldn’t come to some periods, so we would just chill,” he said.

Under Chonco’s leadership, that all changed.

“These new teachers were much more serious. We would have failed if they weren’t here,” said Mkhize.

Nomfundo Ngcongo, Inkumane’s only matriculant to get a bachelor’s pass, also credited the new teachers.

“They worked hard with us, even working on weekends and during the holidays,” she said.

Ngcongo has enrolled for a Bachelor of Education degree at the University of Zululand.

“Their performance inspired me,” she said.

The school is in the heart of the village of Inkumane, about 100km from Durban, and Chonco said the support from parents, the community and neighbouring schools had driven him to turn the school around.

The school also had a twinning agreement with Maritzburg College, which provid- ed textbooks and teachers for special classes on weekends.

“The community would come to me and ask what they could do to help. We do not have a lot of resources, not even a photocopy machine.

“I would go to the school down the road and ask them to make copies for me, and sometimes our pupils would even go to that school to be taught maths and accounting because they have a very good teacher there.

“Every quarter I would meet with the matrics’ parents to show them where their children were doing well or where they struggled, and they would also want to know what they could do to help their children.

“Everyone wanted to help us to get things right,” he said.

“And on Tuesday when the results were released, the community came out to celebrate. They were all here with us on Tuesday. Everyone was very happy and very proud.”

Now, Chonco said, the goal was to build on this success.

“This year we want 100% — nothing less. The days of 0% are gone and will never come back.”

They worked hard with us, even on weekends and during holidays